SOON TO BE GONE

[Chris]

Jersey City residents can finally say good-bye to the dilapidated buildings still standing next to the Journal Square PATH station.

By April 7, the remaining structures on the 1.5-acre site will be gone, a spokeswoman for one of the partners developing the site said yesterday. Work begins Monday, she said.

The buildings - most vacant for more than three years - will be demolished to make way for a $500 million, two-tower development containing 1,615 rental units, 70,000 square feet of retail space and 700 parking spaces.

Construction will start before the end of the year, said Liz Opacity, a spokeswoman for Jersey City-based Harwood Properties, one of the development partners.

Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy - who has made the rejuvenation of Journal Square a priority of his administration and part of his campaign for re-election - applauded the movement.

"My administration has been the first in decades to take the necessary steps to restore Journal Square as the central business district of Jersey City, and we are pleased to see this project move forward," Healy said.

Part of an adjacent parking lot will be fenced off during the demolition, but no other Journal Square facilities will be affected, Opacity said.

The walkway in front of Hudson County Community College at 25 Pathside is blocked, but that is unrelated to the demolition work, Opacity said. Officials at the college couldn't be reached for comment.